1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather strip for a motor vehicle and, more particularly, to a weather strip to be attached along a door opening for sealing a gap between the door opening and the door glass.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In motor vehicles having sashless doors, such as hardtop cars, a weather strip is attached along the upper half portion of the door opening of the vehicle body. A peripheral edge of the door glass comes into pressure contact with this weather strip. A tubular weather strip composed of a soft material such as sponge rubber is used for the above-described type of the weather strip. This tubular weather strip is fitted in a retainer which is attached along the door opening. When the door glass is elevated to its fully closed position, the weather strip is pushed by the peripheral edge of the door glass thereby sealing any gap between the door opening and the door glass.
When such a motor vehicle is driven at high speed, the door glass, particularly the upper portion thereof, is drawn outwardly due to a negative pressure generated in the vicinity of the upper portion of the side surface of the vehicle body. Accordingly, the sealing force of the weather strip against the door glass will be reduced.
In order to overcome the above-described problem, several weather strip designs have been developed.
FIG. 5 illustrates one such design. In FIG. 5, arrow A indicates the direction in which the door glass 3 is drawn outwardly, and arrow B indicates the direction in which the door glass 3 is opened and closed with the door. A lower end of a drip molding 5 extends downwardly to a position at which the drip molding 5 does not come into contact with the upper end of the door glass 3 when the door is opened and closed, but comes into contact therewith when the door is drawn outwardly (Japanese unexamined Utility Model publication No. Sho 63-196717). In the drawing, reference numeral 1A designates a weather strip, reference numeral 11 designates a base portion, reference numeral 12 designates a seal wall, reference numeral 16 designates an inner seal lip and reference numeral 4 designates a retainer.
In another prior art design, as shown in FIG. 6, the outside surface of a side wall 13, and a corner portion 15 between the side wall 13 and a seal wall 12 of a weather strip 1B are composed of a solid material such as solid rubber (Japanese examined Utility Model publication No. Sho 62-25369).
The mounted positions of doors and door glasses can vary. In the prior art design shown in FIG. 5, when the fully closed position of the door glass 3 is offset upwards, the upper end of the door glass 3 comes into contact with an extended end of the drip molding 5 every time the door is opened and closed. On the other hand, when the fully closed position of the door glass 3 is offset downwardly, the drip molding 5 does not prevent the door glass 3 from being drawn outwardly while the motor vehicle is driven at high speed.
In the prior art design shown in FIG. 6, when the seal wall 12 is pushed up by the door glass 3, the side wall 13 which is composed of the solid material will not deform and the corner portion 15 will not move in the direction of the door glass 3. Accordingly, the end portion of the door glass 3 will not be sufficiently embraced by the seal wall 12, thereby reducing the sealing force of the weather strip. When the mounted position of the door glass 3 deviates outwardly in the direction of the arrow C, the upper end of the door glass 3 will come into contact with the hard corner portion 15, thereby reducing the sealing force of the weather strip.
In the prior art design shown in FIG. 7, a through hole 6 is formed in the corner portion 15 of the weather strip 1C along the entire length thereof. A tube 8 is inserted into the through hole 6 and a wire 7 is inserted into the tube 8 so as to be slidable with respect to the tube 8. When the weather strip 1C is attached to the door opening, one end of the wire 7 is fixed to the vehicle body while the other end thereof is connected to an actuator (not shown) attached to the vehicle body for pulling the wire 7 when the vehicle speed reaches a speed at which the door is drawn outwardly. Accordingly, while the motor vehicle is driven at a high speed, the peripheral edge of the door glass 3 is pushed inwardly by the wire 7 through the corner portion 15, thereby preventing the door glass 3 from being drawn outwardly (Japanese unexamined Utility Model publication (Jikkai) No. Sho 59-157915).
However, that prior art design requires the difficulties of inserting the tube 8 and the wire 7 into the through hole 6. In addition, the actuator must be installed in the vehicle body.